Southwest Corridor Park Youth + Families

About the Park

The Southwest Corridor Park is famous for its history and design.
But for us, it's also just "the park" where we enjoy being outdoors with friends.

When you say "I'm going to the park" what do you mean?

For some people, "going to the park" means playing on the playground.
Or playing basketball or tennis or baseball.
Or gardening in a community garden. Or riding bicycles. Or cooling off in a spray pool.
Or taking pictures or drawing in a sketchbook. The Southwest Corridor Park provides all these things and more.
People of all ages find something to do in a park.

Why is the motto "Connecting neighbors from Forest Hills to Back Bay?"

The Southwest Corridor Park is a five-mile-long park. The park goes along the path of the Orange Line transit from Forest Hills to Back Bay. These five miles of park land connect people from many neighborhoods. The park also connects neighbors in other ways. People get to know each other through gardens and bicycling and playgrounds and sports. Parks are an important part of city life.

What is special about the Southwest Corridor Park?

In the 1960s, the land that is now a park almost became a highway. At that time, all over the country, there were big highways being built right through city neighborhoods. The people of Boston said they did not want a highway. They made their voices heard. After a long struggle, the highway plans were cancelled. Instead we have a park and bike path and subway line. Ever since then, many people have worked together to take care of the park and make it someplace special for our neighborhoods.

Learn more:

Find out more online: http://swcpc.org. And take a walk or go to the playground with your friends and notice the different ways people use the park: people gardening, walking dogs, riding bicycles, walking to school and work, talking with friends and neighbors.

For a next generation of park leadership

This page provides a brief question-and-answer 'about the park' for youth programs and activities. Feel free to
adapt, add to or shorten this for your program.

Programs interested in park history can also see the history page on this website
(http://swcpc.org/history.asp).
Other resources on the website include the map pages, gardening pages, and photo gallery.